geographer

“180 years of middle passage, 246 years of slavery, rape and abuse, 100 years of losery freedom: black codes, convict leasing, Jim Crow…all codified by our national institutions. Lynching, medical experimentation, red lining, disenfranchisement, grossly unequal treatment in almost every aspect of our society, brutality at the hands of those charged with serving and protecting, being unwanted strangers in the only land we know. During the 385 years since the first of our ancestors were brought here against our will, we have barely had time to catch our collective breath. That we are here at all can be seen as testament to our will power, spiritual strength and resilience.” quote from Joy DeGruy Leary’s book Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome.